I Didn't Mean to Make You Cry
by youandmeotp
Summary: Mitchsen one-shot. Aubrey surprises Beca with a trip to the beach. Fluff ensues.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.**

Beca Mitchell closed her eyes and breathed in the salty air. It was the week before final exams in her freshman year, and her girlfriend, Aubrey Posen, had whisked her away on an impromptu beach getaway. It was actually a surprise as of today. It was a Friday at 4:30 when Aubrey had told her about the idea, and the drive to Myrtle Beach was six hours. Beca had laughed as Aubrey screamed at her to pack faster, they had to leave by 5:00. Then they blasted a summer mix CD through the car speakers and sang along, carefree the whole drive long.

They had finally arrived, and practically threw their bags in their rental house before changing into bikinis and heading for the beach. Aubrey had obviously been planning this for a while, because there was no way they could've lucked out last minute with a place right on the beach. Beca had never known that Aubrey was one for surprising people like this. When Beca's first toe hit the cool sand, the time was 11:09 pm. It was already dark, on that late April night, and there were way more stars here than there were in Atlanta. Beca reached out for Aubrey's hand so they could take in this moment together.

Ever since the Bellas won the ICCA championships, Aubrey had been a lot more laid back with the whole group. Now she was even cluing the others into her tender feelings for Beca. They'd actually been dating on the down low ever since their second performance.

Aubrey thought back to that day as Beca led her further onto the beach. Beca had screwed up the performance by throwing in a little La Roux in the middle of Aubrey's solo. Aubrey had been peeved about it at first, but watching a playback of the performance, it didn't sound half bad. She just didn't like someone messing with the way she ran the Bellas. Anyway, she knew it wasn't going to be enough to get them to the next round, and she all but exploded at Beca backstage after their set.

Unbeknownst to the other Bellas, though, Aubrey had sought out Beca a few days later to apologize. She was tired of being depicted as the enemy. She knew Chloe was mad at her, and Chloe was her best friend. Apparently the rush of being in charge didn't outweigh the strain of being mean. She'd kept it up for a whole year, but she couldn't do it anymore.

She'd arrived at Beca's dorm in the middle of the afternoon. There was no response to her knock at the door, so she tried the handle. The door was unlocked. She let herself into the dark cavern, and after her eyes adjusted, she spotted the small puddle of blankets, laptop, and headphones that was Beca. She seemed so small. Even though she was only 5'2", Aubrey had never seen her act it. Aubrey talked Beca out of her slump, and explained how wrong she'd been to ignore her talents all season. Although her words seemed to be sensible yet uncharacteristic of Aubrey, she honestly had no idea what was coming out of her own mouth. All she could focus on was the brunette's bedhead and lonely blue eyes.

Aubrey couldn't clearly remember anything until she was back out in the hallway. As she walked away, she got the strange impression the two of them had been kissing. But how likely was that, really?

Beca texted her the next day. It turned out she remembered the kissing, too. And she'd liked it. They'd been trying things out together ever since.

Now, Beca looked up at the moon. It was unusually bright, and it illuminated their strip of sand with an eerie glow. There was only one other person on the beach, a man who looked older and probably lived in a house a couple doors down from theirs. Beca could've sworn she saw him looking at them. _Oh, well,_ she thought, _it's not as if there's much else to watch._

A yawn escaped Beca's mouth. "Tired?" Aubrey asked.

"Not at all," Beca fibbed. Aubrey yawned in response. "Contagious, right?" Beca said.

It was then that Beca finally took in Aubrey. Just...her, in general. For the hastiness with which she'd thrown on her purple flowered bikini and matching coverup skirt, she looked pretty flawless. Her golden hair hadn't been messed with since the morning, so the natural waves flowed out behind her in the breeze. The smile on her face was what got her, though. Beca couldn't even handle herself when Aubrey smiled.

Aubrey saw Beca standing at a distance and definitely checking her out, which was what caused the smile. With that, she sauntered back to her girlfriend and linked pinkies with her. It was a habit they'd picked up as the Bellas season went on; they didn't want to seem abnormally close, and unless you were looking for it, it would seem like the two girls' hands were just close together. The miniscule amount of skin on skin contact made all the difference, though.

Pinkie in pinkie the two approached the edge of the water. Gentle waves were breaking on the shore. It was something they had never seen before, with the stars shining above, since their family vacations to the beach when they were younger had not allowed them to be out this late at night. A more daring wave snuck up on them and got them wet up to the shin. Aubrey squealed. "Not Miss Hardcore anymore are ya?" Beca teased.

"Never was," Aubrey replied. "That's all you."

Before Beca could come up with a witty response to that, Aubrey pushed her into the water. Beca and her priceless expression of shock fell butt first into the next wave. "Seriously, Bree?" she deadpanned, like she wasn't in the least bit having fun. Aubrey bit back a throaty giggle, but she couldn't quite hold it down. "Oh, you wanna go? You wanna go?" Beca challenged. She grabbed Aubrey's ankle to throw her off balance, and Aubrey tipped sideways into the water as well. Her sing-songy laughter synchronized with the ripples around her.

Pretty soon, their laughter had died down, mostly for fear of waking the neighbors up, and not because the situation had gotten any less ridiculous. It hadn't. Eventually, when they were both suitably soaked and chilly, Beca took Aubrey's hands and they pulled each other up simultaneously. As much as Beca wanted to go for a cheeky midnight swim with her girlfriend, she was also slightly terrified of sharks - Jesse had made her watch "Jaws". So venturing further than thigh deep into the ocean received a firm no, unless there were lifeguards around.

Something didn't feel right to Aubrey about the way they were walking. There were only inches between their hips, as usual. Their feet were stepping at the same rate, although Beca had to take a few more paces every once in a while to keep up with Aubrey's longer legs. What was wrong? It was the fact that they were properly holding hands. They'd never done that openly before. Hug, sure. Kiss, why not? But hold hands? Never. It was a weird thing to avoid, and it was relieving to realize Beca hadn't let go since she pulled her out of the water.

It felt strangely good, this little gesture, because it proved Beca wasn't embarrassed of their relationship anymore. She was proud.

"Did you notice?" asked Aubrey.

"Hm?" Beca said absentmindedly.

"We're holding hands."

Beca looked down. Then she looked at Aubrey. Then she looked ahead again, a small smile on her face. She didn't say anything more before she pulled Aubrey in for a sweet, slow, sultry summer kiss. By the time they separated, Beca's smile had spread to Aubrey's lips.

In the distance, Aubrey spotted a faint orange glow, sharply contrasting with the dark, cool colors of everything else around. Beca spotted it, too, and started to say, "Is that…"

Aubrey cut her off. "OMG, it's a fire! I love fires!" she exclaimed. She ran toward it without a second thought.

"Aubrey," Beca whispered loudly, walking behind in disbelief. "What do you think you're doing?"

"There's no one over there!" Aubrey said giddily. "We can enjoy the fire all by ourselves!" She didn't stop running.

Beca rolled her eyes but followed along. What was the worst that could happen?

When she caught up to Aubrey, she realized something familiar about where they stood. It was where she'd spotted the old man earlier. Aubrey's eyes were wide admiring the gentle flames, but something else caught Beca's eye. It was a sticky note stuck to a small rock. She picked it up and read it to Aubrey aloud. "For the two lovebirds." _The old man must've seen some of our sappiness,_ Beca thought.

"Aww," cooed Aubrey. "How sweet. Come here, baby." She sat down on a conveniently placed log and patted the space next to her. Beca plopped down beside her and snuggled in close. She wasn't usually one to voluntarily touch people, let alone wrap herself in them, but something about Aubrey Posen broke down those walls without a battle. Aubrey let Beca lean into her, head rested on her breasts, side rubbing up against her side. They fit together like two puzzle pieces.

"Y'know," Aubrey said once Beca had gotten comfortable, "I want to work somewhere I can do this. Where I can just have fires, like, all the time. Bonfires, campfires, whatever. They're one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It's even better when people gather around them and talk about life."

"Are they really that beautiful?" Beca questioned cynically.

"Yeah," Aubrey persisted. "Aren't you simply enchanted by the radiance?"

"I mean, I guess. But the most beautiful?"

"Yeah, it's up there with oceans and acapella."

Beca sighed. "Gee, Aubrey...girlfriend…," she said. "Are you absolutely sure there's nothing more beautiful?"

Aubrey picked up on the sarcasm in Beca's voice and looked at her. Beca's eyes twinkled. Then Aubrey realized. "Oh. Oh! I mean, fires are great and all, but their beauty _pales_ in comparison to yours." Beca grinned like an idiot at this compliment, even if she'd been fishing like crazy for it.

A period passed of relaxed silence between her and Aubrey, listening to the calm rise and fall of the ocean beside them, and becoming incredibly aroused by Aubrey running her fingertips over Beca's goosebumped arms. There was absolutely no need for them to talk in that moment. Beca was incredibly glad Aubrey had dragged her off to South Carolina, even if she was meant to be studying for her Intro to Philosophy exam, which she'd missed a lot of this year. There was nowhere else in the world she'd rather be.

Finally, though, Beca broke the silence. "Hey, Bree?" she murmured.

"What's up?" Aubrey responded.

"What are we gonna do when you graduate?" she asked.

"Oh, let's not think about that, sweetie," Aubrey said, placing a hand caringly on Beca's head. The love-drunkenness was strong in this one tonight.

"No, tell me. Is there any way we could stay together, realistically?"

"Beca," she warned, "I didn't bring you here so you could break up with me."

"Hey, that's not fair." Beca sat up so she could face Aubrey straight on. "If I'm being honest, that's the last thing I want to do tonight. I just want to have some idea of what I can expect for the future." _So I don't get too hung up on you,_ continued Beca in her head, _and then can't get over you._

All of a sudden, Aubrey was crying. It was quiet, so Beca barely noticed. But she definitely saw a tear roll out of her normally confident blue eyes.

"No no no, Aubrey, why are you doing that?" Beca said. She was never particularly good at handling crying people, much less crying girlfriends. She hugged Aubrey quickly but tightly, as if she could squeeze away the problem.

Aubrey gulped. "Sorry, sorry," she apologized, sniffling. "It's just, you care, right? You care about me?" Beca nodded emphatically, concern evident on her face. "That's never...that's never really happened to me before. So I don't really...ugh, sorry, I can't talk. What I'm trying to say is, I'm afraid I'm going to get too attached. To you, to this feeling. And I don't know what to do."

For Aubrey, admitting she didn't know what to do was always a struggle. The big vomit incident/Chloe screaming at her/friendship circle thing that the Bellas had going on last month was the first time she'd said it that openly in at least a year. And she'd said it to Beca. Now she trusted Beca to help fix the worst of her problems, and that probably wasn't a luxury she'd have come next month. That was a daunting realization.

"Hey, don't apologize," Beca said gingerly. "I feel the same way." She laughed a little. "I guess we have more in common than we originally thought." Beca took a deep breath, then continued. "I'm...afraid...to have you leave."

"I'm afraid to leave you," Aubrey replied. She wiped another tear off her cheek and half-smiled at her stupidity.

As another tear slipped out of Aubrey's eye, Beca stopped it in its path with her lips. Then she kissed Aubrey on the lips hard, displaying her want, no, her need for Aubrey to be with her. Beca never wanted the kiss to end, but after about ten seconds Aubrey retracted. "Beca?" she said, her voice reduced to a whimper.

"Tell me," Beca said certainly.

"I think I'm in love with you."

Beca froze. It's not like she wasn't expecting that, because Bree had kind of been leading up to it. But no one had ever told her that before, not in that way. Aubrey was her first serious relationship ever. Beca had never rehearsed how she was going to react to the first time. "Oh God you're freaking out," said Aubrey.

"No, shut up, I'm just trying to think," Beca snapped, then seeing the dejected look on Aubrey's face, added, "Sorry."

It was all Beca could do not to break down right there. She'd never presented an emotional side of herself to Aubrey or any of her college friends. She had to hold it together now. This wasn't as big of a deal as she was making it, surely. She looked into Aubrey's eyes and saw nothing but assurance. That was all she needed.

"Come here, you," was what she ultimately said, even though she was the one to make the move.

Beca stood up briefly before straddling Aubrey's lap, twirling her own hair around her finger cutely. She kissed her passionately, relishing Aubrey's tiny gasps on her lips as she ran her fingers up and down her spine. Aubrey was dizzy with delight and could barely hold herself up straight on the unsteady log. She clutched Beca's bare waist to steady herself, but it didn't really work. Beca pressed so hard into her that they both tumbled backwards into the sand to continue making out.

Eventually, their fervent kisses gave way to sandy cuddling. The two girls faced each other, Beca's head at Aubrey's breasts, right where they both liked it. They were still leisurely touching each other everywhere, like no matter how many times their fingertips ran over the same spot, it would be just as thrilling every time. Once again, Beca Mitchell closed her eyes and breathed in the salty air. This time, it was filled with the irresistible the scent of Aubrey.

"I'm in love with you, too," Beca whispered.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" said Aubrey.

"I'm in love with you," Beca repeated.

"One more time, for the people in the back," Aubrey teased.

"I'm in love with you, aca-bitch!" Beca whooped, kicking some sand up with her toes and grinning in that girlish way Aubrey adored.

Aubrey giggled softly. "Sorry, I just really like to hear you say that." She hooked a finger in the waistband of Beca's bathing suit and pulled her in close, kissing and sucking her neck hard. "Let's take this back to the house."


End file.
